It's a myth that homes cannot run using renewable energy, today. There are factories and colleges that run using renewable energy as the primary (and only) source of energy. Heck, there is an airplane that runs using solar energy (only). Powering your house, is relatively simpler. There are renewable energy technologies and options that are available today, to help you do that.
It's quite obvious that the most important renewable energy option (and the only option for many) to power your house is Solar Energy. But solar energy is not only about buying solar panels, inverters, batteries, charge controllers and generating electricity.
Did you know that you can cook food using solar energy (solar cooker)? Did you know that you can retire your old electricity-guzzling water heater in favor of a solar water heater? Did you know that there are solar Wi-Fi keyboards, calculators, power packs (to charge electronic gadgets via a USB port through the inbuilt battery, powered by small solar panels), solar lights, solar lanterns and solar DC fans?
You may not need to invest over one lakh rupees to become greener today. You can start with something smaller, and keep adding stuff as you go. Did you know that there are plug and play solar panels, that enable you to do just that? Or you can just take certain electric/electronic gadgets off the grid, by powering them using (smaller) solar panels/batteries.
Of course, you can power your entire house using solar panels. Though there are no technological limitations to this concept, there are other limitations like the amount of initial investment required, efficiency of solar panels, battery replacement time, etc.
So, What's the Cost of Solar Panels in India?
Typically most home owners go with 1 KWp or 2 KWp solar energy systems these days, and use both the energy from the grid (EB) and solar panels, interchangeably. Solar inverters that provide power using solar panels during power-cuts, are also available.
Typically, a 1 KWp solar panel system costs around Rs. 80,000 to 1,00,000 (without battery) and Rs. 1,30,000 to 1,50,000 (with battery)*. It can roughly produce 4-5 units (kWh) of energy every day, provided it's a normal sunny day. In India, we get at least 9 months of normal sunny days, unless you live in a place like Chirapunji.
- *Please note: The prices mentioned above are indicative and they may vary based on the model/brand/solution.
- The rating in KWp refers to the maximum power that these modules can produce, and not the average power.
- Since solar panels are not yet popular in the retail market, their prices may come down further if a lot of people start buying solar panels for their rooftops - Economy of scale.
What factors should a house owner look for, before investing in solar panels?
If you decide to buy a solar panel system for your house, the high initial cost may not deter you if you know how to calculate the payback time for your capital (in simpler terms, ROI), after which you'll be able to enjoy free power - Literally!
As a house owner you should also look at the cost of non-availability of power and the cost of back-up power. Of course, investing in solar panels will give a strong signal to everyone around you that you care for the environment. Besides, only a privileged few can install solar panels in their house today and it is a good chance to increase your visibility (among neighbors and relatives) by getting in to the club, now. After all, buying solar panels is also a sensible investment that makes you an environmentally conscious citizen.
There is a crucial factor that is often overlooked: Energy/Electricity prices will only go up, not come down. Also, utility companies in most states charge higher (per unit/kWh) if you exceed certain number of units every month/every two months. If you exceed 500 units (for example), you pay much more per unit and this increases the energy cost dramatically. Solar panels can definitely help you maintain your bills below that minimum limit.
As with every other segment, you can expect many newbies and incompetent solution providers/ system integrators for supplying, installing and maintaining your solar panel system. Do remember that the average life of a solar panel is 25 years (with an 80% power output warranty until then). So, you need to do a lot of homework before selecting the most appropriate vendor. Ask for customer references and talk to at least a couple of their previous customers, before buying. If you don't find any competent vendors, it maybe better to even postpone your buying decision for sometime.
On the technical front, you need some empty space on your rooftop (of course, you need a roof!) and you need to locate the inverter/battery in a sheltered area, somewhere close-by. You may need to do some electrical rewiring in your house and it's not yet viable to connect air-conditioners and other heavy loads to solar panels.
Should you be too concerned about the subsidies provided by the Government?
Well, it depends. MNRE (Central Govt) provides 30% of subsidy to solar panel vendors, who will in turn pass over those discounts to you. The tricky part here is, the cost of solar panels after subsidy may not be overly different from the cost of solar panels without subsidy. That's because, the Govt. calculations considered a higher price for solar panels while calculating the subsidy value, and the prices have now decreased.
Also, it takes a long time for your vendor to obtain those subsidies (in some cases, getting subsidies might take ages!). Don't think that this doesn't affect you - If your vendor is thrown out of business, who will maintain your system? So, if you buy solar panels without subsidies, you'll still have a solid reason for it.
In some cases, Government support maybe beneficial. For example, Tamil Nadu is coming up with a net-metering scheme for rooftop solar which enables residents (and hopefully small business owners) to sell their unused solar energy (during the day, when it is produced) to the electricity board (grid). They'll pay the residents some money for every unit of energy generated (for a few years). This will enable people to buy a solar panel system without those expensive batteries (which need to be replaced every 4-6 years, depending on your usage) and save a lot of money.
Hopefully other state governments will come up with similar schemes and hopefully the electricity boards can execute the net metering concept well enough. Wait and watch, may also be a good strategy.
How about Wind Energy?
There are micro-wind turbines (that are much smaller than the giant wind mills) that come in the range of 1 KWp to 10 KWp (or higher). These small wind turbines are relatively more expensive (than solar panels) but work very well in windy regions (like hill tops, beach fronts, etc). Depending on where you live, wind energy may also be within your grasp.
Another interesting development is the Solar-Wind hybrid systems. Here, solar panels are pooled together with micro wind turbines and the electricity generated by both is cumulatively fed into the house. This helps avoid the intermittent nature of electricity generation for solar panels (as they work only in the day), and wind turbines can work during the nights, as well. For some reason, vendors in India are not aggressively pushing this solution, while it has definitely caught a good amount of traction in the global market. I wonder if abundance of sunlight has anything to do with it!
Hydro, Biogas, Biomass:
These types of electricity generation is not for small/individual house owners. They are more useful (and economical) for communities. Tens of homes can pool-in their resources to establish common renewable energy systems and share the energy generated by them. If you live in a hilly region and your area has a stream running by, micro hydro turbines might be useful to you. Even if you live in cities and you can convince people in your area to segregate waste at source, you can use the organic waste to generate energy via small biogas plants. Biomass is for rural areas/agri-based factories that generate a lot of agricultural waste, which can be used to generate heat/electricity.
My Renewable Energy Wishlist (these may not be available or may not be common, yet):
- Economical solar powered air-conditioners, air coolers, refrigerators, dehumidifiers, room heaters, etc.
- Solar powered computers, solar powered TVs/home-theater and other application-specific solar energy solutions.
- Small-scale solar thermal solutions (solar concentrators that use the sun's heat to generate electricity or steam) - We have abundant thermal energy in India!
- Solar Cars - Electric Cars that can run using the energy generated by solar panels. Mahindra E20 is available now, but we need more options. We need a company like Tesla for the Indian market. The best thing about an electric car is, it comes with a large battery which can store energy generated by solar panels (at home) and can be tweaked to power appliances at home.
Read an inspiring interview of a consumer who has been generating his own power at home, using solar power systems for the last four years.
